End Point Assessment

The Richard Review, an independent report on apprenticeships commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), recommended a move to end-point assessment for three reasons:

A more holistic assessment at the end of an apprenticeship would allow apprentices to be assessed once they had gained the maximum experience possible.

Assessment at the end of training gives employers and providers much more control over the design and structure of the on-programme training of the apprentice.

End-point assessment also frees up providers from continuous assessment allowing them to focus more on training and learning.

The registered End-Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) and their End-Point Assessors (EPAs) & Lead End Point Assessors (LEPAs) must be independent of, and separate from the employer/training provider, essentially to ensure quality and to mitigate conflict of interests.

Once the apprentice completes their on-programme delivery and assessment, a decision will be taken as to whether they are ready to undertake the end-point assessment, known as the ‘Gateway’. How this is determined will be down to the approved Assessment Plan that supports the Apprenticeship Standard.

In most cases, the end-point assessment will be graded thus providing an outcome to show the apprentice is fully competent and productive in their occupation.

Assessment Platform

Employers along with their training providers or employer providers select an approved End-Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) from the Register of End-Point Assessment Organisations (EPAOs) of their Apprentice Standard/Assessment Plan.

By clicking here, the employer/employee provider and/or training provider can see which EPAO is approved to deliver which Apprenticeship Assessment Plan

FutureQuals, like all other approved EPAOs must act in accordance with strict Conditions laid down by the Education & Skills Funding Agency. The latest copy can be found here.

We pride ourself on its very existence; a first class choice for your end-point assessment needs. Our approach to your apprentice employee is quiet simple, we treat them as if they were our own employee, preparing their every step towards undertaking their end-point assessment.

End-point assessment is a process of ensuring that the apprentice (the learner) undertaking the Apprenticeship Standard has sufficient knowledge, skills and behaviours within their area of work as determined by the employer group, formerly known as the Trailblazer Group who designed the Apprenticeship Standard and Assessment Plan.

For further information on EPA processes and support for apprentices and employers including how to prepare for your end-point assessment can be found on the Support tab.

1. Gateway Declaration

Completion of the Gateway Declaration & Registration Form confirms that the employer and training provider is satisfied the stated apprentice(s) has fulfilled all requirements of the Apprentice Standard, including on-programme mandatory qualifications and attainment of the appropriate level for Maths & English. Providing a declartion of their apprentice meeting the gateway specified in the approved assessment plan is an important start to our process. FutureQuals in accordance with the ESFA Conditions will audit the evidence (ESFA Conditions section)

2. Registration

Linked with the Gateway Declaration, a batch registration is providing each apprentice with their own unique registration number, which is automatically provided to you by our supportive systems on successful upload. A contract for the provision of EPAO services must be in place to allow this part of the process to take place. A fee of £35 per apprentice applies here regardless of the Apprentice Standard/Assessment Plan level and overall EPA costs

3. Reservation

The outstanding balance of the overall agreed EPA costs for the requested dates is settled to secure the booking and allow FutureQuals to proceed with confirming the arrangements with its End-point Assessors. Confirmation of required services, venue, dates, names of apprentices, names of LEPAs & EPAs are provided through our automated supportive booking systems.

4. Support Tools

Alongside your confirmation is your very own online access code to our support tools, specifically designed to support your employee to prepare for thier end-point assessment, in addition to tools that are posted out to the employer for onward distribution to the apprentice.

5. Internal Quality Assurance

Internal Quality Asurance is an integral part to our operational plan, ensuring that nothing less than first class service is provided to our customers throughout the end to end journey. Our customers are important to use, which is why we firmly believe that the apprentice, the employer, the provider and the Government are seen as our customers.

6. Certification

After passing all our internal validity checks your apprentice overall grading and other required data fields by the ESFA are uploaded into our secure SFTP certification account. These are then further validted and triangulated by your own data recorded in the apprentices Individual Learning Record (ILR). Should all aspects of this data check be successfull, your apprenticeship certificates are posted directly to the employer to be awarded to the apprentice employee.